


Satisfaction

by stephanericher



Series: 31 Days of Horoscopes [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 11:58:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9383912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: 1/17: Today you might want to put one last burst of effort into a project, as this could make a big difference to your income and status, Aquarius. It could put you before the public in some way. Your physical energy is high and mental abilities especially sharp. Whatever you choose to work on will be accomplished quickly and skillfully. Relations with others will be congenial and supportive.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so this 31-day challenge is based on the wonderful [31-Day Horoscope Challenge by @icandrawamoth](http://archiveofourown.org/series/621022). Simply: read your horoscope for the day from horoscope.com (Aquarius for me); use it as a writing prompt.

The weapon is beautiful. The oscillator is functioning; the main reactor is secure; the control station shines like a wrapped gift. Standing by the hangar, looking out at the expanse of snowy trees, Hux superimposes his memory of the last preliminary test so many months ago, the remote pulsar planets that no one will miss, all obliterated along with their neutron star, over this scene, the finished base with only a few remaining construction materials and the beam of light, tight and thin bisecting the horizon. This is it; it’s as ready as it will be and the time to use it is drawing soon, much sooner than the Supreme Leader had anticipated, sooner than Hux had guaranteed it (but no sooner than he’d planned it).  
  
Groups of troopers march out on patrol, clearing paths in the ever-present snow and checking on the surveillance equipment. It’s all on schedule, pristine, in order, as good as Hux could have imagined. But imagination is not reality, and this is no time to get complacent. Hux tightens his fists. The troopers around him are still standing to attention; the inside air is still (not the way space air is after a month, too sharp and organic, but the best facsimile they can do here).  
  
“Very well,” says Hux.  
  
The troopers know a dismissal when they hear one, and Hux is turning the opposite way before their footsteps fade. The Supreme Leader must be informed of this development, and there’s no need to take the long way and feel his coat billow out around his ankles. He’s not a child, and it’s not as if time is unlimited. There are preparations he still has not made, official reports to look over and sign, more than the usual amount given the weapon’s rapid progress.  
  
Ren is already with the Supreme Leader’s hologram, engrossed in some deep discussion of the Force that apparently takes precedence over his news.  
  
“I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting, General,” says Supreme Leader Snoke, smiling in that uncanny way that makes Hux wonder if he can read thoughts and then squash that idea (even he knows that’s not how the Force works).  
  
“The weapon is nearly ready. When the reinforcements are finished, it will be.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
The supreme leader drags the word out as if it’s an expensive cut of meat, savored in his mouth.  
  
“Is that all, General?”  
  
“Yes, Supreme Leader.”  
  
“Well, then,” says the Supreme Leader. “Stay, General. I have some information that pertains to both of you.”

* * *

It’s a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker, the kind of thing that generally sends Ren on one of his stupid knight’s quests that rarely leads to anything other than Ren getting angry and destroying things when he gets back, the kind of thing that Hux usually doesn’t hear about firsthand and doesn’t particularly want to know about until Ren wants to use more resources than he’s been allocated (which he invariably does). The fact that the Supreme Leader had made sure to tell both of them is enough to give Hux the suspicion that this is legitimate, or close to it. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, only that the old man on Jakku has Resistance ties and they will surely be sending one of their best to retrieve this map.  
  
The destruction would be a suitable prelude to the unveiling of Starkiller, a sign of things to come.  
  
“No arguments?” says Ren.  
  
“Why should I argue? I’m not the one who picks fights,” says Hux. “Take Phasma’s division with you; they need combat experience.”  
  
Ren is probably making a face behind his helmet. Hux ignores him in favor of figuring out where informing Phasma fits on his rapidly-growing mental to-do list.  
  
“You don’t like when I take your troops.”  
  
“I don’t like when you take my troops and I have other things for them to do. You heard the Supreme Leader; we’re both going.”  
  
Ren snorts, or at least that’s what Hux thinks the noise is—processed by the vocabulator, it’s hard to tell.  
  
“What?” says Hux.  
  
“You’re happy,” says Ren.  
  
“What?” says Hux again, sharply and in a very displeased tone.  
  
Ren’s since vanished around the corner before Hux can say that no, he’s not happy; he’s just temporarily satisfied by the progress that’s been made. That’s all.

* * *

The paperwork is as dense as he’d predicted, and the officers’ meetings stretch longer than they should. But they’re all for valid reasons; the crew wants to cover all of the appropriate bases, and even Mitaka is speaking up with something semi-intelligent. And when the meetings finally end, Hux isn’t feeling as tired as he probably should. The reports sit before him, and he checks them one by one on the bridge as they prepare for the jump. It’s all coming together at exactly the time it should.  
  
“Ready to make the jump to hyperspace, sir!”  
  
Hux nods and the stars around them blur into streaks. They’ve got a good while until they reach Jakku, and there’s no reason to stay on the bridge where people can bother him with things that should go into the backlog. He can finish the reports in his quarters and then sleep; his body needs it even if he’s not feeling it right now.  
  
Ren’s apparently got that covered already, sprawled out face down on the bed, most of his body on Hux’s side. Hux takes the desk.  
  
“You’re still pleased,” Ren says, halfway into the covers.  
  
“I am not,” says Hux. “I’m working.”  
  
“You’re the one who loves to multitask,” says Ren.  
  
“I thought you were asleep,” says Hux.  
  
He signs the bottom of the document and flips to the next, yet another expense filing. Ren doesn’t respond, and perhaps he is already dreaming of slicing people in two (or whatever he dreams about). Hux turns to look at him, and there’s no mistaking the smile on his face. Maybe he’s pleased that he thinks he’d caught Hux being self-satisfied; maybe it really is a violent dream; maybe his last conscious thought was about something petty like taking over the bed. And maybe Hux is a bit more than satisfied, as premature as the feeling may be. Not that he’ll say as much aloud to Ren.

**Author's Note:**

> this is what passes for 'congenial and supportive' for these two at this point in their relationship lmao
> 
> i am aware that the end of this reads kinda like a perspective-flipped version of the end of 'contact' but that's just how i see their relationship going pre-canon sooooo
> 
> your feedback is always appreciated (regarding that or anything else!)


End file.
